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Dean Smolla Participates in Viacom v. Google Webcast

West Legalworks has assembled a panel of experts in intellectual property and copyright issues, including Washington and Lee School of Law Dean Rod Smolla, to address the issues of the massive Viacom v. Google case and analyze its potential impact on Internet media and user generated content.

On March 13, 2007 the international media giant Viacom filed suit against Google for $1 billion, claiming that Google's popular video-sharing network YouTube had engaged in massive violation of Viacom's copyright interests, exploiting content from many of its most popular properties, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and others. The complaint alleged that some 160,000 unauthorized clips of Viacom's programming had been available on YouTube, clips that had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. Google steadfastly denied any liability and YouTube continues to operate as before.

Key topics:

Who bears the burden and cost of regulating and restricting infringement of copyrighted works?

What lessons learned from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster Supreme Court decision can be applied to this case?

Is it possible to apply an industry standard to user generated content?

Speakers:

James Gibson, Director, Intellectual Property Institute, Associate Professor of Law, University of Richmond